Saturday, July 31, 2010

I got a wonderful surprise in the electronic mail box this week with this contribution from Lynch (who showcases his incredible Marvel Comics merchandise collection on his MyEbay page trust me, you need to visit that) it's a rare poster used for 1970s appearances by webhead himself. What's even better is the demonstration picture that came with it:

I'm sorry there is both something in eye and I need to change my pants. A Mego carded Iron Man isn't exactly an everyday thing....

Friday, July 30, 2010

In the 1960s, Mattel had a great deal of success with their "Major Matt Mason" line of toys, but when Neal Armstrong stepped on the moon and discovered nothing, interest in space toys hit new lows.

Mattel logically thought to spin the concept off to a more earth bound concept and created "The Sea Devils" underwater explorers featuring the same bendable body style as Matt had. Leading the expedition was now Commander Chuck Carter and his sidekick Rock Riley as they explored the ocean's depths.

Sea Devils is something I've wanted to feature on PS, mostly because I find it an awesome line of toys and two, it just fell flat on the market and are really hard to find in the secondary market. It's a shame as they are a great start to what would become a wonderful decade of toys.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

While I never truly understood Kojak's appeal to children, I kind of love this British role play set which has you relive all the excitement of taking notes, wearing sunglasses and possibly making an arrest. No gun however, which is kind of surprising, considering the era.

Monday, July 26, 2010

This is a new one to me, these Comic Hero kites from Remco were made in 1971, which was an odd year to be making Superhero merchandise seeing it was pretty close to the late 60s explosion. There are some pretty interesting things to notice about this line, first is the absence of Aquaman ( although I'm not sure if he had a monthly by this point) and the other is there is not one but two Flash kites, even one where he's punching Mirror Master.

I mean that's some pretty obscure character choices there, even for 1971 when kids actually read comics. The other big tell this is from the early 1970s is the appearance of Wonder Woman in her weird-0 powerless Emma Peel days.

I wonder how many kids would have even realized this was supposed to be Wonder Woman?

Saturday, July 24, 2010

It doesn't more 70s than this, the Marvel Superheroes (including Spider-Woman, whom I've had a crush on since 1979, *sigh*) and the Carter family. For those wondering, that is absolutely Jonathan Frakes as Captain America there. I never expected to have a shot like this so close to the last one but it's a most welcome surprise.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Anybody who grew in the 70s probably remembers the Janex line of products especially their talking alarm clocks which were a pretty big deal at the time. I for one coveted that Batman and Robin one but I hated waking up as a kid (still do) so I never asked for one.

The addition of this fun (although weather beaten) catalog also adds some much needed Raggedy Anne and Andy merchandise to the site, it seemed like those two were everywhere back in the day.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

One of the cryingest shames of the 1970s were that a lot of cool TV shows never got much merchandise, take Land of the Lost for example. This was easily one of the most memorable kids shows of the decade and all we got were a few rack toys from Larami, some viewmasters, a Halloween costume (which I'll admit kicks ass) and a board game.

Nobody thought the Sleestaks were marketable? Heck nobody thought kids wouldn't buy a series of plastic dinosaurs with a "Land of the Lost" sticker slapped on them? I'd be hunting ebay every day for such a thing.

At least this bagatelle features some lovely graphics, kind of gives a glimpse of what a Land of the Lost comic might have looked like. Oh damn, that's another thing they should have made...

Saturday, July 17, 2010

"Kamen Rider Colouring Book"Back in 1991, I spent about every weekend hitting China Town or Agincourt to find new laser disks or VHS of this cool new show I had discovered.
Kamen Rider was that series, in Japan it's a kids show and the best way to describe it is it's one part Sid and Marty Krofft with equal parts Sonny Chiba.Never a big anime guy but man do I love it when the Japanese do live action.My friends didn't get it (let alone girlfriends) and I couldn't make out a word what the folks were saying but it didn't matter, I was hooked for like on this craziness. That's why I was so jazzed when I saw this on Ray Miller's table at the last Megomeet show.

This is Kamen Rider ZX to be exact, each series of Kamen Rider introduces a new one and gives them a unique backstory and villain. He's a motorcycling grasshopper/cyborg that transforms via a special bet. The different riders occasionally team up which is all kinds of awesome.

Hopping the pond to the UK for this Mall Appearance which happened in the early 1980s when Darth Vader himself dropped in on a "Toymaster" (great name) shop to promote the Empire Strikes Back Video cartridges that I spent the majority of 1981 playing.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Even though my toy buying was waning considerably by 1984 (sadly I was getting more into Doctor Who paperbacks than girls) I do admire some of the cool gimmicks used to spawn action figures at the time..

Take for example Galoob's Infaceables line, a series of Heroes and Villains whose faces changed into horrible beasts. The Infaceables didn't rock the toy world (probably due to the lack of animated series) but they're kind of a fun, typically mid eighties SciFi/Fantasy toy line. Also, dig the vehicle names, "Incredible Thrasher" is my new screenname on my Wii Active game...:

Saturday, July 10, 2010

This ad for licensing Captain America products from 1981 is interesting not only to comic fans but also trek people ( can't remember if "trekkie" or "trekker" is offensive so I'll steer away from that controversy, thank you) as I'm 90% certain that's none other than Commander William Riker actor Jonathan Frakes under that ill fitting large cowl.

It's well documented that Frakes paid his dues appearing as Cap during the late 70s/early 80s and most of the photos in the Superhero Mall Appearance Gallery seem to predate his tenure. This one however has a good chance of being him, I hope this useless knowledge brightens somebody's day.

Friday, July 09, 2010

Parker Brothers was already a household name for board games and in the 1970s, like a lot of other toy manufactureres, they were attempting to the name in the growing electronic game market.

Competition was fierce but Parker in 1979 had some memorable concepts like Merlin and Wild fire Pinball. While ROM: Spaceknight was a cool concept (and an even better comic book) it didn't get the sales it probably deserved. Click on the pages for abetter view of the 1979 Parker Brothers Electronics Catalog.